Dharamsala, the Indian hill town of monks, chocolate pancakes and backpacker kitsch, has long been a mecca for Tibetans fleeing Chinese communist rule. Thousands have made the tortuous journey over the Himalayas from Lhasa, drawn by the promise of a new life, freedom of expression and the presence of their spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, who arrived in 1959 after he fled Tibet.